Financial Wellness Competition
Find your freedom NOW
NOW is a seven-month-long competition that gives participants a better understanding of their income vs. expenses while creating healthier spending habits.
This Is How We Do It
Teams are led by a PenAir Credit Union Certified Financial Counselor (lovingly referred to as their NOW Coach). Together they will build a better understanding of how to:
Understand Finance Basics
Get a clearer picture of their finances with personalized, confidential, one-on-one coaching.
Balance A Budget
Develop healthy spending habits and learn how to build a budget that fits their needs.
Manage A Credit Score
Learn what it takes to eliminate debt to improve their credit score and financial wellness.
People Say The Nicest Things
Veronica and John, 2022 NOW WinnersWe are forever thankful for this opportunity and are very excited to be moving into our new home with minimal debt.
Cash In On The Competition
Now that they have a personalized game plan, it’s time to put in the work and transform their financial future. We like to think that the ultimate prize is the financial freedom our teams earn through the journey. But, there is literally cash on the line…. each team has the chance to win the grand prize of $10,000.
Meet the 2023 NOW Teams
Transformation Over Time
Money doesn’t grow on trees, but over time small changes add up to BIG successes.
Meet Our Past NOW Teams
Our past teams come from all walks of life, but they all had one common goal of saving, budgeting, and living their best financial lives. Read more about our NOW teams from 2020, 2021, and 2022.
2022 NOW Teams
Veronica & John
The pandemic was hard on Veronica and John and their finances. They’re getting back on their feet with stable new careers, but they need a little help from their NOW Advisor to figure out the next steps to take in order to meet their big family’s financial goals.
Crystal
Balancing a full-time career in healthcare and raising two teenagers on her own, Crystal is determined to stick to a budget and help her kids develop healthy spending habits. With an empty nest on the horizon, Crystal wants to send her kids into adulthood feeling financially secure.
Jack
Picking up the pieces after a divorce, Jack is ready to break free of debt and get his life on the right track. With the help of his NOW Advisor, Jack is learning to be strategic with saving and paying down debt, proving that it’s never too late in life to become financially fit.
2021 NOW Teams
Manson Family
Recently married and raising two teen girls, Clayton and Tammy are living with very little emergency savings. The Mansons are looking forward to the expert advice they’ll receive from their NOW Advisor to make their financial future brighter and more secure.
Rider Family
With their finances in “survival mode” since Hurricane Sally took a blow on their bank account, Jennifer and Kirk are nervous about their growing debt. They want to get their finances in order without having to sacrifice making memories with their daughters.
Wooton Family
Wesley and Tammy’s new marriage and adoption of their two young boys (Hunter, 6 and Hayden, 3) has them starting over later in life. They’re focused on setting goals for retirement and building a foundation of healthy money habits for their children.
2020 NOW Teams
The Patroni Family
The Patroni family hopes to learn how to manage spending habits so they can pay off debt and build savings. The global pandemic has helped them realize the importance preparing for financial emergencies.
Miller Family
The Miller family’s long-term goal is to decrease their family spending so they can build a better financial foundation for the lifestyle they’ve been working towards.
Gant Family
For the Gant Family, solidifying a financially secure future means learning how to manage their income, increase their credit score, and ultimately own a home.
Takeaways and Lessons
Along the way, Teams share their experiences through short monthly blogs and video updates that are posted to PenAir Credit Union’s social media accounts. You can also look back at previous Team experiences.
Interested in learning more?
To be eligible for PenAir’s NOW program, participants:
- Must be a citizen(s) or legal resident(s) of the United States
- Must be a PenAir Credit Union member(s) or eligible to join the credit union and willing to open transactional accounts for purposes of monitoring contest results
- Must demonstrate a need for NOW and a willingness to significantly improve their financial situation. For example, to:
» Reduce debt to create a savings plan
» Create savings plan for retirement, tuition, home down payment
» Must be willing to develop a savings goal and provide monthly reports on progress and results
» Must be willing to work closely with NOW Financial Advisor Team
» Must be willing to reveal and share the financial situation with the public
» Must be comfortable being interviewed for print and electronic media discussing participation in Pen Air Credit Union’s NOW 2022.
» Must not have declared bankruptcy in the last 12 months
» Must not have caused Pen Air Credit Union a loss - NOW participants must execute all waivers and agreements required by PenAir Credit Union
Applications will be reviewed by a committee of PenAir employees. The committee will select a pool of applicants to be interviewed. Prior to the interview, a background check will be completed. Those applications that pass the background check will be interviewed, and from that pool, the four participants will be chosen (in addition to any alternates).
The monetary prizes will be selected based on the individual/family that earns the most points during the contest. Points are awarded for percent increase in savings, percent decrease in debt and participation in program events. The winner is selected at the sole discretion of PenAir.
*The winner is solely responsible for reporting and paying any and all applicable taxes related to the prize(s). All decisions are final and are not subject to appeal or dispute.
NOW applications open at the beginning of each year and will be posted on the Financial Advising Competition page (so you’re in the right place). Check back in January for your chance to compete next season. You could take home $10,000!
Disclosures
For all events, employees and volunteers of PenAir Credit Union, and their immediate families, are not eligible to participate. Immediate family includes spouse, parents, siblings, children, stepparents, stepchildren, grandparents, and grandchildren.